Rockin' Years
by nannygirl
Summary: Taking a little walk down memory lane, Red helps Kitty deal with the idea of growing older. A missing moment between Red and Kitty at the end of Season 5's "Heartbreaker." IMPORTANT Author's Note inside!


_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing. I do not own That '70s Show or any of it's characters. Nor do I own the wonderful Dolly Parton song the story is named after. I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Oh my gosh! Guys did you hear the AMAZING news?! KURTWOOD SMITH AND DEBRA JO RUPP ARE REUNITING IN A NEW TV SHOW! THEY'RE GONNA BE PLAYING A MARRIED COUPLE AGAIN! I AM SO FLIPPIN' HAPPY! I just HAD to post something in celebration and I was lucky to have found this fic in my drafts. Hope you enjoy it! Its's a missing moment from Season 5 after Kitty finds out she's not pregnant. Still wish she had been but with the current news of these two wonderful actors working together again, I'm not even upset about Kitty not being pregnant in the show lol. I AM so happy and hope you all are too please feel free to message me about, I'm seriously so excited about it and would chat about it all day if I could lol Thanks again for stopping by to reading, hope you like, please review if you can and as always, Enjoy!_

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**Rockin' Years**

"Hey," Red peeked his head into the bedroom and spotted his wife sitting at her vanity already dressed in her pink nightgown and rolling her hair up in the plastic yellow curlers. He cautiously stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him, "How you doing?"

Kitty never looked his way as she dryly replied, "Oh great. It's so nice to no longer be a woman."

"Kitty, that's not true," Red started to argue before realizing it wouldn't be worth it. He sighed, "You know, I've been…I've been trying to think what I could do to make you feel better, and I finally came up with something."

He took a seat on the bench beside her and Kitty promptly scooted over to make room for him.

"I sent your parents home early," he revealed and when Kitty turned to look at him, he gave her a grin and lifted both eyebrows.

"That kinda helps," she said and smiled a weak smile, but it was the first real smile she had since finding out that she wasn't pregnant.

Still grinning, Red put his right arm around her and pulled her closer before kissing her head. The moment she felt her husband's lips on her, Kitty's faint smile grew even more.

"I just," her smile became sadder and she looked at Red. "I really wanted to be pregnant."

Red watched her silently, he knew she wanted to be pregnant and how excited she was about a possible baby; but telling her he understood wouldn't do much to make his wife feel better. He then thought of something that might.

"You know what the real kicker is? This morning when we thought you were still pregnant, I sold my corvette."

Kitty stared at Red, wide eyed. She couldn't believe it; he had actually sold his corvette. For her, for the baby they weren't ever going to have.

Lost in his thoughts of that moment earlier in the day when he handed the keys over to some dumbass, Red was suddenly startled when his wife started laughing. Loudly. It wasn't one of her forced or awkward laughs it was a genuine, hearty, loud laugh. Now, Red wanted his wife to feel better and he thought his news would make her feel a little better, but he never expected it to cheer her up this much!

Slowly Kitty's laughter started to die down and as it did she wrapped her arms around Red's neck. A smile soon formed on his lips as he hugged her back.

They'd both had a very long day. A hug was something they both needed.

For a few more moments the couple stayed in their embrace, finding comfort in just being held by the other, before Kitty gradually moved herself away and out of Red's arms.

"You okay?" he asked her again.

She gave him a small smile and nodded, "I will be."

"Good," Red smiled, he really was happy to hear this.

"I think I'll just call it a day and go to bed early," Kitty said, explaining her ready for bed appearance, as she stood up from the vanity's seat.

"Good idea," he agreed pushing himself onto his feet. "I'll be in there soon with you, I just gotta help Eric check on something."

Kitty nodded and began to walk toward her side of the bed, ready to crawl underneath the sheets and sleep away the remaining hours of this horrid day. Her plans were brought to a sudden halt when she spotted an item sitting right beside her bedside, in front of her nightstand.

It was the tiny blue cradle that had just been freshly painted by Red only a few days ago.

Filled inside the crib were tiny clothes and various other baby items that Kitty had collected from the basement. These things were supposed to be hand-me-downs for the new baby, but there was no new baby; all they were now were reminders of Kitty's babies who were now all grown up and getting ready to leave her.

It had been Kitty herself who placed the collection there in all her excitement, but the excitement was gone now and it was like the crib, that had previously swelled her heart with happy memories and happy moments to come, was mocking her.

How could she have been so dumb to think she was pregnant? She was nurse, she should have seen the signs of menopause…. instead she just got her hopes up as well as the hopes of her family.

"Kitty?" Red called when he noticed her quiet, still state; and then he spotted what had absorbed his wife's attention. "Oh, Kitty. Here, I'll just…I'll get that out of the way."

Red stepped towards where his wife stood then bent down to grab the crib and its contents. Once it was in his arms and being held more like a box packed with memories than an old cradle, Kitty thanked her husband and continued the rest of the way to her bed.

"I'll call Pastor Dave tomorrow," she said, sitting on the right side of the mattress and kicking off her slippers. "Maybe there's a church drive going on for one of the women's shelters or orphanages."

"You wanna get rid of this crap?" Red asked and despite calling the items 'crap' he actually sounded hurt at the idea of getting rid of it all.

"Well, we certainly won't be needing any of it now, Red," Kitty reminded bitterly. There would be no baby now, there would be no baby in a few years. She no longer had the option to have another baby. She was barren!

"Right," Red voice was laced with disappointment but when he looked down at the cradle he held and saw what inside he started to grin. "Hey, remember this?"

Still grinning like he'd just discovered some secret hidden treasure map, Red sat down beside Kitty—placing the crib onto his lap. He reached inside the blue cradle and pulled out an old beige stuffed bear.

"Laurie's first teddy bear," he said as if his wife needed a reminder. "It was bigger than her when I gave it to her."

Kitty giggled remembering that very moment, "You were holding that big bear and a huge bouquet of flowers when you came in to see me and Laurie after she was born."

"Yeah," Red's grin remained full as he recalled the memory of the first time he saw his wife holding their little girl in her arms.

"Oh Red, look," Kitty joined her husband on the trip down memory lane by taking out another baby item from the crib. "The little baseball hat you bought Eric when he was born."

Taking the little blue cap into his own hands, Red looked at it quite fondly, "Yeah. What a waste of two bucks that was."

He tossed the headgear back into the cradled with a frown. Kitty sent him a sharp look before retrieving the item once more, dusting it off with her right hand.

"Well I wouldn't say _a_ _waste_, after all, it kept the sun out of his cute little face for the first couple of months," she reminded with a little giggle.

Red heard his wife's words but his attention remained inside the crib as he rifled through the rest of the little reminders of his daughter and son's childhood. The next item he pulled out was an old worn copy of a hardcover picture book.

He looked over the book he hadn't seen in years but still felt more than familiar in his hands. "Look at this dumbass book."

"Red Forman, if you disliked that book so much why did you read it to Laurie and Eric every night for over year?"

"Because they wouldn't go to sleep until I did," he gruffly reminded, carefully flipping through the aged pages. "Then they'd go around the room saying goodnight to all things in their room. From their stuffed animals to their doorknobs."

Kitty just smiled, "And always ending with a 'Goodnight, Daddy,' remember?"

"Yeah," Red's smile was soft.

Looking at the children's book, Red's smile was more than just soft, it had almost a sort of sense of melancholy and when Kitty noticed it she felt her heart drop.

"You really wanted me to be pregnant too, didn't you?" her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Well," Red shrugged, eyes still averted down at the book. "I was starting to get used to the idea of having a baby around the house again."

"I'm sorry, Red."

When he heard the way his wife's voice broke, Red immediately looked up and saw Kitty trying to blink away her tears. He placed the children's book back into the crib with the rest of the family memories and wrapped his free arm around his wife's shoulders, pulling to him. She accepted his comfort and sniffled just slightly when she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Kitty, you have nothing to apologize for," the tone of Red's voice was firm but at the same time held a gentleness to it. "Sure, I was getting used to the idea of having another kid around, but I'll get used to the idea of not having another kid around even faster!"

Knowing just how true that statement was, a feeble laugh escaped Kitty's lips making Red's own smile grow some more.

"Come on, what do you say you hold off on calling Pastor Dave and I'll take this stuff back down to the basement?" he suggested. Red knew Kitty didn't really want to get rid of all these things and if she did, in a few months she'd be devastated that she had and there would be nothing Red could do. He didn't want to see his wife that upset all over again. And maybe, there was even a part of him that didn't want to give up this stuff either. "Hell, maybe some of this junk'll come in handy when we start getting grandchildren."

"Grandchildren," her head went back when she scoffed at the word. "Now not only am I at the age where I can go through menopause but I'm at the age where I can have grandchildren. I am so _freakin'_ old!"

Red held in a chuckle at the outburst before reminding her, "I'm right there with you, sweetheart."

Kitty stared up at her husband for a few moments before she lifted her head off his shoulder, titling it slightly, while her eyes looked off to the side, "Well…"

He frowned, "What?"

"You are three years older than me," this time she was the one doing the reminding. "So _technically_ you're a little ahead of me."

"Does that make you feel better?"

"It does, a little bit," Kitty admitted, barely able to contain her smile.

"Good," Red gave an affectionate pat to her upper arm as he squeezed her a little closer. "I don't mind getting old and you know why?"

She looked at Red, her smile flattening as she spoke, "Because unlike women who as they grow older lose not only their ability to have children but also their looks, as men grow older all they do is go gray and become more dignified?"

"Well there's that," he agreed, smirking smugly and causing Kitty to shake her head and roll her eyes. However, as Red continued, his smirk became less smug and more genuine. "But the real reason I don't mind growing old is because I get to do so with you by my side."

"Oh Red," she cooed at him before craning her neck up for a kiss.

Their lips met with a great tenderness. His arm lowered to her waist and he squeezed her close, deepening the kiss even more. It was like he was using this kiss to remind his wife of how much he loved her and how he could never see her as the old woman she was convinced this menopause thing had turned her into.

When Red finally pulled away from her it was clear the kiss had done its job. Kitty was sitting there with her eyes still closed and a smile creeping onto her lips, relishing in the effects of the kiss. Her reaction brought out a chuckle from Red.

"Why don't you lay down for a bit while I go check in with Eric, then I'll come back up here to join you and we can continue this?"

Slowly Kitty reopened her eyes, "I'd like that."

"Good," Red said with a grin before hefting the old cradle in his arms and standing up from his seat then heading towards the door. The sooner he took care of all this other stuff the sooner he could return back upstairs to his bride.

"Red, wait," Kitty called out, halting her husband's actions right away. The puzzled frown he gave her, made her a little nervous about what she had to say. "Since those things will probably be stuck in storage for a while maybe, maybe there's no rush to pack them away so soon. We could put them back in the attic tomorrow."

The confused scowl on Red's face softened with understanding. Never saying a word, he stepped away from the room's door and placed the crib back in its spot close to Kitty's bedside. She smiled her thanks.

He headed back towards his exit, "I'll be back."

"I'll be waiting," she called back just before the door shut with a soft click.

Settling back against her pillows and under the covers, Kitty grabbed her current book and opened it to the where she'd last placed her kitten printed bookmark. She'd only managed to read through a single page before she lost interest in her reading and focused on the memory filled cradle that rested a few feet away from her.

The cradle would never hold a child of her and Red's again but that didn't mean it would never hold another infant, or another Forman Baby. Red was right, maybe one day the old cradle would be used to rock their grandchild to sleep.

Of course, Kitty wasn't really expecting to become a grandmother right away, most of her kids were still in school and youngsters themselves. Besides, she still had to get used to the idea of going through menopause, something she'd only heard and studied about, not experienced herself. If she remembered correctly from her studies, menopause meant three things: no more menstruation which luckily also meant no more PMS, it meant she could no longer have children but grandchildren could fill that void, and most of all, it meant she was getting old.

Funnily enough though, the idea of growing old didn't upset or scare Kitty as much as it had before. She now realized that she could be covered in wrinkles with aching arthritis and snow-white hair, spending her days in a creaky rocking chair, but as long as she had Red sitting in the rocking chair beside hers, he'd help keep her feeling young at heart.

**The End**

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_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little bit of both? Be sure to let me know what you think!_

_Also, you now how this fic talks about Red and Kitty being grandparents one day? Well in this new series pilot, Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp's characters ARE grandparents! I can't wait *cries more happy tears* I'm SO happy!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!_


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